Royals Knock Off Rangers 6-3

The Royals came out strong on Friday night in the first of a 3-game series against the Texas Rangers after a series split in Colorado with the Rockies.

The Rangers scored first in inning number one as Adrian Beltre drove in a run on a groundout following a single by Elvis Andrus and a ground rule double by Alex Rios.

The Royals came right back in the top of the second as Billy Butler led off the inning with his eighth home run of the year. After Alex Gordon grounded out, Josh Willingham reached when he was hit by a pitch. Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, and Alcides Escobar then combined for back-to-back-to-back singles to drive in two more runs and make the score 3-1. The Royals got two more runs in the fourth and seventh as Josh Willingham led of the top of the fourth inning with a solo shot for his fourteenth home run of the year. In the seventh, Nori Aoki reached on a fielding error by Mike Carp. Lorenzo Cain had doubled previously and was able to score to give the Royals a 5-1 advantage.

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The Rangers came back in the bottom of the seventh when Francisley Bueno gave up back-to-back doubles to Adam Rosales and Daniel Robertson to make the score 5-2. After Bueno got a groundout by Shin-Soo Choo, Kelvin Herrera came in and promptly hit Elvis Andrus with a pitch. He got Alex Rios to ground into a force out that scored Robertson before retiring Beltre who lined out to Jarrod Dyson. The score was 5-3.

The Royals were able to pick up another insurance run in the top of the ninth. Jarrod Dyson walked with one out before stealing second base. Omar Infante then hit a ground ball to Elvis Andrus who made a throwing error that allowed Dyson to reach third. Salvador Perez grounded out to score Jarrod and the Royals took a 6-3 lead.

Greg Holland pitched the ninth and was unblemished aside from a meaningless two-out walk. He picked up his 40th save.

Yordano Ventura started the game for the Royals and went six innings giving up one earned run while striking out six and walking three. He got his tenth win of the season and now has a winning record (10-9).

The Royals are 71-56 and are currently 2.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the quest for the A.L. Central crown.